Splendour in the Grass cancelled as Australia faces 'serious crisis'
Fans will be left devastated as one of Australia's most iconic festivals has been scrapped for 2024.
Iconic Aussie music festival Splendour in the Grass has been cancelled, with industry experts warning the festival scene is facing a "serious crisis". The event was due to take place in July of this year and follows the cancellation of a number of other Australian music festivals in recent times, many of which have cited poor ticket sales.
Pop iconic Kylie Minogue was due to headline this year, with other acts including G-Flip, Arcade Fire, Tash Sultana, Omar Apollo, Viagra Boys and Kita Alexander.
Event organisers confirmed the news in a statement on Instagram on Wednesday. They said the festival will be "taking the year off due to unexpected events," but did not elaborate.
"Ticket holders will be refunded automatically by Moshtix," the statement continued. "We thank you for your understanding and will be working hard to be back in future years."
The festival launched in 2001 and has been held across the three decades since, at the North Byron Parklands in Yelgun in New South Wales.
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Live music fans in shock
Fans expressed their shock on Wednesday, with some suggesting a lacklustre line-up was to blame.
"What is happening?" artist Alison Wonderland questioned online.
Other fans cited last year's "disaster" as a possible factor in why people this year may have been unenthusiastic. "2022 was the nail in splendour’s coffin," a fan wrote on Twitter.
"A complete mismanagement from all sides, with an audience just starting to feel the weight of a cost-of-living crisis, it’s sad to say this outcome isn’t at all surprising."
"This is an unbelievably big blow to the Australia music industry but it's hard not to see the writing on the wall when I'm seeing almost exact lineups seven to eight times a year," another disgruntled fan wrote.
A low AUD + high interest rates killed Splendour.
Festivals can't afford to book the big headliners when our AUD is so low, and fans won't fork out the cash unless they can see a giant international, especially when interest rates are so high.
A very sad day…— Luke Girgis (@LukeGirgis) March 27, 2024
"No one has any money," another said. "That is why it was cancelled. Festivals like Splendour often have varied lineups so they bring in a wide crowd, but that model doesn’t work anymore, because people can’t afford to go to a festival to see three or four acts they like."
Expert says Australian festivals facing 'serious crisis'
Dr Sam Whiting, Lecturer in Creative Industries at UniSA, said not even Splendour could survive the pressures of the cost-of-living crisis.
He said a host of factors including increased extreme weather events, spiralling costs and less-engaged fans meant there was a "serious crisis not only for festivals, but for the live music sector at large.”
"Without high demand for tickets from the outset, promoters are not going to shoulder the additional risk of running these events below capacity," he said.
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